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The last few years have been, at the very least, stressful for everyone. The global pandemic plunged us all without warning into new ways of living, working and interacting, and the after-effects are still being widely felt. So how do we cope with this new world, not to mention everyday stresses and strains? How do we slow down, decompress and lighten the load on our frazzled nervous systems?
The answer, according to Scott Townsend of Matakana, is literally under our noses – it’s through our breathing. Townsend is passionate about effective breathing and its largely untapped power to alter not only our mental condition, but physical and physiological states via simple routines and practices.
He has studied countless techniques and studies on how different ways of breathing can affect minds and bodies, and has trained with some of the best known practitioners in the world, not least Wim Hof, a Dutch motivational speaker and extreme athlete whose breathing method has attained a huge following in recent years.
But there is far more to optimal breathing than Hof, as Townsend stresses.
“Breath is an untapped resource right under your nose – you’re always breathing, it’s always there,” he says. “It’s the most powerful tool we have. It’s something people can use to develop their own awareness, and curb or manage their anxiety or stress.
“It can control your autonomic nervous system, your cardiovascular system and immune system, it can increase or decrease your energy, be a pain reliever, enhance your performance, and make you more aware of your thoughts and feelings.”
Townsend himself was just eight when his father taught him to breathe deeply through his diaphragm as a way of calming down. Then, when he was 18, he was taught more breathing techniques and he was bitten by the bug.
“Any book, course, podcast, article, I’d be into it, thinking what can I learn here, from the very scientific and medical right through to the more “woo” stuff, like non-ordinary states of consciousness.”
Having used breathwork to help himself through a number of life challenges such as anxiety, stress, depression and traumas, he started teaching others in his mid-20s. He now offers a range of different techniques and methods, working with everyone from individuals with medical issues through community workshops and classes to sessions with major corporates and government departments.
Townsend’s approach is calm, straightforward and down to earth, with the odd joke thrown in.
“I teach people about their nervous system and how to regulate it. I like to equip people with a toolbox – how do they deal with a panic attack, how do they get more energy, how do they deal with unresolved emotional issues, or the need to sleep,” he says. “And the feedback I get all the time is that it changed their life.
“I love seeing the look in people’s eyes afterwards, and hearing them say that they’ve never felt so calm.”
One of Townsend’s main motivations is that the world is currently what he calls an “attention economy”.
“Where are people’s eyeballs, what are they focused on? People’s awareness has been hijacked,” he says. “Our brains aren’t designed to be connected to everything all the time.”
He maintains breathwork can provide at least some of the answers.
“If the pharmaceutical companies could capture it, it would be the number one selling drug because there are so many benefits to it,” he says.
Townsend currently runs various breathing workshops, including Wim Hof Method and one-to-one sessions, in Matakana.
Info: Visit https://o2coach.nz/
